SINGAPORE: The hotly anticipated Spikes Asia Awards Ceremony has taken place at the Grand Theatre, Marina Bay Sands. Over 1,000 delegates attended to be the first to hear this year's winners and celebrate the best of creativity in communications from across Asia Pacific.

NEW YORK, US: Global consumer confidence increased one index point last quarter to 89, while Europe led confidence declines in 24 of the region's 27 measured markets, according to fourth quarter 2011 global consumer confidence findings from Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy.

NEW YORK, US: Global online consumer confidence fell for the seventh consecutive quarter as confidence in 31 of 56 global markets measured declined, according to from Nielsen, a leading global provider of insights and analytics into what consumers watch and buy.

NEW YORK, US: The 4A's has announced the shortlist for the Jay Chiat Awards for Strategic Excellence, claimed to be the first global advertising awards to recognise brilliant strategic thinking. Submissions in 10 categories were received from Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam.

CANNES, FRANCE: A total of 28 828 entries from 90 countries (725 from SA) have been submitted to the Cannes Lions 58th International Festival of Creativity, the international annual awards for creative advertising and communications. This is the most entries in the history of the festival.

SHANGHAI, CHINA: The Asian Marketing Effectiveness Festival, a joint venture between Haymarket and the International Advertising Festival, will take place 12 and 13 May at the Pudong Shangri-La hotel in Shanghai, China.

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: Furthering their regional reach and access, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and the Business Performance Innovation (BPI) Network will team with the Asia-Pacific Business and Technology Report (APBTR) to gain new content channels and syndication sources in the world's fastest growing and most influential regional market with more than four billion consumers.